Recent advances in communication and data processing technologies have given rise to a rapid development of communication networks. In addition to providing distributed data processing capability and data base sharing, modern communication networks allow voice and data to be more efficiently transmitted from one place to another through economical topological configurations (that is the manner in which the nodes of the network are interconnected).
Moreover, whereas the geographical confines of past communication networks, such as local area networks, were limited to closely dispersed stations interconnected by cables (for example, different offices within the same building), modern communication networks can easily span over wide geographical areas, with the stations distributed among nodes interconnected by communication media such as satellite, microwave and fiber optic transmission, using T1 transmission or other communication facilities.
In many modern communication networks, each node has a controller which is typically a processing unit executing system software to perform such management functions as: processing the handshaking communication protocol, routing voice and data messages (based upon topological or other information), and performing other control operations. Because enhancements and new functions may be added to the control operations, there exists a need to periodically update the system management software being executed in the processing units of a communication network.
In conventional local area networks, updating the system management software has been performed without too much difficulty by physically swapping out memory cards which contain the older software and replacing them with cards which contain the new software. However, in modern wide area networks such as the Integrated Digital Network Exchange (IDNX.RTM.) products marketed by Network Equipment Technologies, the assignee of the present application, this approach suffers many drawbacks. For example, updating the system management software may become a costly operation both in terms of human resources and system downtime involved in the swapping process. Furthermore, when the size (that is the number of nodes) of a network becomes large, a considerable amount of time may need to be spent to swap the software in all the nodes. These drawbacks may be further aggravated if test runs of the new software become necessary.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for a method whereby system management software in a communication network can be easily updated.